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February 27, 2017

It goes without saying, but I feel like The Last Guardian is a litmus test for
what kind of gamer you are.

If you’re reading this, then you know the story
behind it. The game was announced about
a decade ago, and drew plenty of eyes across the medium. The crew behind Ico and Shadow of the
Colossus -- two central pillars for the “games are art” argument -- are
getting together to release a brand new installment? Sign me up, we said in droves. And we waited, and waited, and waited. But The
Last Guardian pole vaulted right over the PS3, and landed on the PS4 in
2016 -- well into the console’s lifespan.
Was it worth the wait?

I can’t imagine how many reviews featured the “was
it worth the wait” line as a lead-up.
For me, though? It was always a
given that The Last Guardian would be
something special -- like I had no reason to worry because of the minds and pedigree
behind it. “GOTY 2016 incoming,” I
thought on occasion. I thought that it
would be the latest pillar in the art debate, without question. I thought that I could rest easy, because
Team Ico and the rest of the funky fresh crew had it in the bag. Imagine my surprise, then, when some
reviewsgave it
a decent(ish)score
instead of an avalanche of TENOUTTATENs -- not enough to change the
conversation, but Metacritic
can be telling at times. And imagine
my greater surprise when it
got a permanent price drop, which seems to signal all sorts of unfortunate
implications.

February 23, 2017

All right, show of hands: how many of you reading
this has a backlog of games whose size routinely leaves you in the depths of
despair? Don’t be shy. It’s fine to admit it. I’m in just as deep as anyone else.

I’m a lover of video games -- and a connoisseur of
them, if you want to give me even a shred of credit. I write about games to try and show what the
medium can offer; that usually means that I have to derail and talk about the
garbage that plagues the medium, but every so often I get the chance to sing
praises about this mechanic or that story.
The problem is twofold, as you’re likely all too aware. First: there are a lot of games out there nowadays, and anyone who wants to play them
all has a massive task ahead of them. As
if that wasn’t bad enough, there’s the second issue: it seems like a pretty big
percentage of games these days require a pledge that runs deeper than wedding
vows.

Want to see everything Metal Gear Solid V has to offer?
Cool! Say goodbye to 50 hours of
your life! Want to get comfortable with
Kum Haehyun in Guilty Gear Xrd? Better get ready to hit the Training Mode
dozens of times so you can maybe win
hundreds of matches online! In my case, I’m
putting time into Tales of Berseria and
Final Fantasy 15 -- two JRPGs, which
means that (as per the genre) I’m going to be out 100 hours even if I power
through them both. Not the most enticing
prospect.

So you know what?
Let’s do something different.
Here’s a big dumb list of games I want to play.

February 20, 2017

Before I do anything else, I need to ask you Star Wars fans out there a question:
what do you think of Darth Vader?

I’m curious, because I don’t have a leg to stand
on. I’ve seen the Star Wars movies (save for Rogue
One, for now at least), but I can’t say they’ve ever occupied a major space
in my mind, or formed a crucial part of my nerd identity. They were just movies I could watch, enjoy,
and move on from. More to the point,
they were movies that -- by a twist of fate -- were almost completely absent
from my childhood, and even then I saw them in an imperfect form (The Empire Strikes Back was my first,
and it would be years before I even thought
about watching Return of the Jedi). So even if I know the key talking points and
the details, I don’t have the bond with them that others likely do.

That’s part of the reason why I’m starting with a
question about Darth Vader. I know who
he is and what he’s about -- more or less -- but it’s surface-level stuff
compared to the true fans. Smarter
writers than me could probably go on at length about why he’s “badass”, or the
thematic heft behind his presence in the canon, or why his stint in Soulcalibur IV was such a pivotal
moment. I don’t have the understanding
of the character, so that’s why I need others to explain the appeal.

February 6, 2017

I think that all of the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure openings are special -- top-notch work,
and a joy to behold and listen to alike.
Personally, that extends to the sixth opening “Chase”. It’s not my favorite, but it’s still plenty
impressive. From what I can gather, not
everyone feels the same way; there have been complaints that the song doesn’t
fit JoJo (and belongs with other
shonen/anime as per its “generic” nature).
Or, alternatively, they’ll say that the dreary aesthetic and harsh tones
are too stark a contrast for a show that revels in its randomly shifted -- and
shifting -- color palette.

My argument is that it always seemed as if “Chase”
represented a logical progression for the Diamond
is Unbreakable anime. I guessed as
much once “Crazy Noisy Bizarre Town” dropped.
Okay, first opening? Lots of
happy sounds and poppy visuals, which can help an audience start falling in
love with Morioh and its people. But
since this is JoJo, a series that
revels in horror and suffering, it was only a matter of time once the plot
kicked in -- and of course, it kicked in right around the time when “Chase”
made its debut. You can’t exactly have
the cast dancing and goofing off when one of the story’s major, plot-propelling
moments is a serial killer’s murder of an innocent middle school boy who just
happened to learn too much. All because
he wanted his sandwich.

So yeah, I like “Chase” as a song, as an opening,
and as a representation. Still, there
was one thing that bugged me for the longest time. I kept asking “Hey, what’s with that weird
stony heart with an anchor on it?”
Luckily, I did eventually get my answer -- and like Diamond is Unbreakable at large, it was glorious.